Jon Hamm breaks his silence on rehab stint

It appears a case of life imitating art for Mad Men star Jon Hamm, who confirmed last night he had recently undertaken a 30-day stint in rehab for alcohol abuse.

The confirmation itself has proved as awkward timing, coming on the eve of the return of his Mad Men character Don Draper - who is struggling with his own demons - to the small screen.

“With the support of his long-time partner Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm recently completed treatment for his struggle with alcohol addiction,” the star's rep said in a statement. “They have asked for privacy and sensitivity going forward.”

Facing TV WEEK the morning after the news broke online, the 44-year-old actor admitted it had been a rough 24 hours.

“Life throws a lot at you sometimes and you have to deal with it as much as you can," Jon tells the Australian magazine, as the final half of the show's seventh season gets set to go to air.

"That’s why you have family and friends and co-workers to help you with that.

“I’ve been very fortunate that throughout the most recent 24 hour period. I’ve had a lot of family and friends support me. I guess that’s all I will say about that.”

The news about Jon's struggle quickly inspired debate on the internet. Many suggested it’s the personal price many actors pay for inhabiting dark characters for such long periods of time.

The late James Gandolfini was one actor used as an example. He did multiple rehab stints during his run as mobster Tony Soprano in The Sopranos.

“Obviously there can be a lot of discussion about how much of this is related to that and honestly I don’t have much to say about that either,” Jon says firmly.

“I’ve said in varying ways that acting can be a difficult endeavour, certainly not as difficult as the recent example I used of being a baby heart surgeon. But, it does present its own challenges and so does life.

"I understand it constitutes news these days,” he adds with a smile of forgiveness for the question being raised, “but it’s between me and my family and not something for public consumption.”

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